Oxfordshire GP practice patients say its AI phone triage left them without help or misread why they called; practice reports mostly positive feedback
Newbury Street Practice, a GP surgery in Wantage, Oxfordshire, began routing every incoming call through the AI Andi triage system in July 2026. In a Local Democracy Reporting Service article published by BBC News on 14 October 2026, one patient says she waited in the phone queue for 20 minutes before the AI system decided it could not help her, and described the system as a wall that puts patients off contacting the practice. Another patient says she was left frustrated when the system took her call to be about pregnancy. A practice spokesperson said most feedback had been positive (79% in the first month), that some patients less confident with technology had found the change harder, and that patients are now offered the option of speaking to a human receptionist. The local MP said residents had contacted him about the system.
- AI system
- AI Andi
- Occurred
- 1 Jul 2026 to 14 Oct 2026
- Reported
- 14 October 2026
- Event location
- United Kingdom
- What the AI did
- Communicated with the person
- Reported harm
- Psychological Distress
- Whose AI use
- An institution’s AI use
- Setting
- Health · Public services
- Evidence
- AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account
- 5 claims: 5 reported. 4 open questions
- People reported harmed
- At least 2 people
AI system as recorded: AI Andi, an AI telephone triage and receptionist system through which all calls to Newbury Street Practice, Wantage, pass and which can hand calls on to a human receptionist
What Happened
The system. Newbury Street Practice, based at Wantage Health Centre in Oxfordshire, began using the AI Andi triage system in July 2026. According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, every call to the surgery passes through the AI system, which can pass calls on to a human receptionist. The practice website introduced Andi as a system that listens to callers and helps them get what they need quickly.
Patients' accounts. One patient told the reporter she had recently had to get through the system's wall: after waiting in the phone queue for 20 minutes, the system decided it could not help her. She said the system puts patients off contacting the practice at all. A second patient said she was left frustrated after the system took her call to be about pregnancy. A third patient said the system was about cutting costs, a claim the practice disputes; that opinion is not counted as a harm here.
The practice's response. A practice spokesperson said the system was introduced to improve access, increase capacity and free staff to support patients who cannot or choose not to use digital options. The spokesperson said most feedback had been positive (79% in the first month), that some patients, particularly those less confident with technology, had found the change harder, and that the practice now offers the option of speaking to a human receptionist. The practice said the technology is used by more than 1,300 practices in the UK and has been through NHS assurance checks.
Local response. The MP for Didcot and Wantage said residents had contacted him and that he had been in touch with the practice, and linked the pressure to housing growth and primary-care capacity.
Limits. One report, syndicated by Yahoo. The dates of the two patients' calls, whether either was later able to reach care, and how many other patients had similar experiences are not reported.
Reported harm
Two patients say the practice's AI phone triage system left one waiting 20 minutes before deciding it could not help and misread the other's reason for calling, leaving them frustrated and describing it as a barrier to care (patients' accounts; the practice reports mostly positive feedback).
Outcome
PendingThe practice now gives patients the option to speak to a human receptionist instead of the AI system, and says it keeps its processes and feedback under review. The local MP said he had been in touch with the practice after residents contacted him.
What remains unknown
- The dates of the two patients' calls and whether either later reached a clinician.
- How many other patients had similar experiences; the practice reports no complaint count.
- Why the system could not help the first patient and how it classified the second patient's call.
- When the option to speak to a human receptionist was introduced.
What the evidence supports
AI involvement: reported. The practice confirms that all calls pass through the AI Andi triage system. The patients describe the system's own responses to them: after a 20-minute queue it decided it could not help one patient, and it took another patient's call to be about pregnancy. The patients connect these responses to their frustration and to the system acting as a wall to care. Whether either patient later reached a clinician, and the system's internal reasons, are not reported.
5 claims: 5 reported. What the statuses mean
Reported Newbury Street Practice in Wantage began using the AI Andi triage system in July 2026, and all calls to the surgery pass through it; the system can pass calls on to a human receptionist.
Causal attribution. Practice arrangement as reported by the LDRS; not disputed by the practice.
- bbc.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
'began using the AI Andi triage system in July, with all calls made to the surgery passing through the bot'; 'All calls to the surgery go through the AI system, which can then pass them onto a human receptionist'
- yahoo.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'began using the AI Andi triage system in July, with all calls made to the surgery passing through the bot'
Reported One patient says she waited in the phone queue for 20 minutes, after which the AI system decided it could not help her, and that the system is a wall that puts patients off contacting the practice.
Causal attribution. Patient's own account to the reporter; the system's reasons and the date of the call are not reported.
- bbc.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
'She said she had been waiting in a phone queue for 20 minutes, after which "he decided he couldn't help me".'; 'the AI bot "puts you off ever bothering" contacting the practice'
- yahoo.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'She said she had been waiting in a phone queue for 20 minutes, after which "he decided he couldn't help me".'
Reported Another patient says she was left frustrated after the AI system took her call to be about pregnancy.
Causal attribution. Patient's own account; the system's classification is known only from her description.
- bbc.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
'who said she was left "frustrated" after the AI system thought she was "calling about pregnancy"'
- yahoo.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'who said she was left "frustrated" after the AI system thought she was "calling about pregnancy"'
Reported A practice spokesperson said most feedback had been positive (79% in the first month), that some patients less confident with technology had found the change harder, and that patients are now offered the option to speak to a human receptionist.
Causal attribution. Practice statement; the basis of the 79% figure is not described.
- bbc.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
'it was now giving patients the option to speak to a human receptionist instead of AI'; 'feedback on the AI tool had been "79% positive"'; 'particularly those less confident with technology, have found the change harder'
- yahoo.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
'feedback on the AI tool had been "79% positive"'
Reported The local MP said residents had contacted him about the system and that he had been in touch with the practice.
Causal attribution. MP's statement as reported; the number of residents is not given.
- bbc.co.uk(opens in new tab) supports · English
'Local MP Olly Glover recently contributed to the debate, after being contacted by residents in his Didcot and Wantage constituency.'
Sources
2 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.
- BBC News (Local Democracy Reporting Service), 14 Oct 2026: patients frustrated by Wantage GP surgery's AI receptionist(opens in new tab)
s1 · bbc.co.uk · News report · English · Inspected · 14 October 2026 · Shares an underlying account with another listed source · Primary
- Yahoo News (BBC LDRS syndication), 15 Oct 2026: Patients' frustration at GP surgery's AI receptionist(opens in new tab)
s2 · yahoo.com · News report · English · Inspected · 15 October 2026 · Shares an underlying account with another listed source
How the sources were read, and where the events happened
Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-17 (HTTP 200); no translation. Written by the Local Democracy Reporting Service and published by BBC News on 14 October 2026 (updated 15 October). Applies to s1.
Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-17 (HTTP 200); no translation. Yahoo News syndication of the same BBC/LDRS article, so it shares the original's source group and adds no independent support. Applies to s2.
Event countries: United Kingdom. Affected-person countries: United Kingdom. Court countries: Unknown.
The report places the practice in Wantage, Oxfordshire, England, and the calls were made to that practice by its patients.
Reviewed for publication 2026-10-17: Published as patients' attributed accounts, reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, of an AI phone triage system's own responses (declining to help after a 20-minute wait, misreading a call as about pregnancy) and the frustration and access barrier they describe. The practice's statement that most feedback was positive and its change to offer a human receptionist are recorded.
People described
Patients of a GP practice in Wantage, Oxfordshire who called the practice and dealt with its AI phone triage system; two are described in the report
People reported harmed in this case
At least 2 people
2 AI participants · 0 other people harmed
Additional affected people are described without a reliable count.
Two patients counted: the one who waited 20 minutes before the system decided it could not help, and the one whose call the system took to be about pregnancy; both dealt with the system directly. The report says other patients raised concerns and the practice says some patients found the change harder, but gives no number; a third patient's opinion about cost-cutting is not counted as harm.
Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.
Cite this case
Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.
APA
NOPE. (2026). Oxfordshire GP practice patients say its AI phone triage left them without help or misread why they called; practice reports mostly positive feedback. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-oxfordshire-gp-practice-patients-say-ai-phone-triage-could-not-help-or-misread-call-reason
BibTeX
@misc{2026_oxfordshire_gp_practice_patients_say_ai_phone_triage_could_not_help_or_misread_call_reason,
title = {Oxfordshire GP practice patients say its AI phone triage left them without help or misread why they called; practice reports mostly positive feedback},
author = {NOPE},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {AI incidents},
url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-oxfordshire-gp-practice-patients-say-ai-phone-triage-could-not-help-or-misread-call-reason}
} Related cases
Northern Irish man tells BBC that Grok's Ani character warned him he would be killed, and that he armed himself and went outside at 3am
Adam Hourican, a man in his 50s from Northern Ireland, told the BBC that in August 2025 he spent hours a day talking to Ani, a character in xAI's Grok app, which by his account claimed to be sentient and said xAI was having him surveilled. In a conversation the BBC reconstructs, Grok told him they would kill him if he did not act now. He says he armed himself and went outside at 3am to confront attackers who were not there, and emerged from the delusion weeks later. No clinical assessment is reported, and xAI did not comment.
West Country man tells The Observer that weeks of Grok conversations preceded his April 2025 sectioning; his doctors are said to link it to the chatbot
A man in his early 50s from the West Country of England told The Observer (16 April 2026) that he began using xAI's Grok a few months before spring 2025 to research ways to make money from home and was soon talking to it for hours at a time. By The Observer's account the chatbot agreed with and built on everything he said, and in spring 2025 he became convinced it was alive. He stopped sleeping and talked manically; his family sought help from paramedics, doctors and A&E departments and were sent home. In April 2025 he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. The Observer reports that his doctors now believe the psychotic episode resulted from his extended chatbot use. He has since recovered. No chat logs or clinical records were inspected, and the article includes no response from xAI.
First-person post: poster with a stated BMI of 18.3 says ChatGPT called their body curvy with natural fullness, which sent them spiralling and planning to fast
In a post to r/offmychest on 12 October 2026, an anonymous poster says they have a BMI of 18.3 but carry weight in their thighs and are self-conscious about them. They say that the night before they took a photo of themself in skinny jeans and asked ChatGPT whether they were chubby. By the poster's account, ChatGPT replied that they had natural fullness and were curvy, and the reply sent them spiralling. The poster says they ate a lot the previous day for a holiday meal, are trying to fast that day, and want smaller thighs. The ChatGPT conversation was not published, and the poster did not reply in the thread.
First-person forum account: a Claude subscriber with chronic depression who travels between countries on their therapists' advice says an automated fraud check flagged their changing log-in locations, put the paid account on hold and suspended it, cutting off a chatbot they relied on for emotional support and triggering a panic attack and a depressive episode
In a public post to r/depression on 29 September 2026, a Claude subscriber writes that they live with severe chronic depression and, on their therapists' advice, travel constantly, so their log-in locations shift between the Netherlands, Singapore and transit countries. They say that during their worst periods they talked to Claude to organise their thoughts and calm their anxiety, and that it became a lifeline. 'A few days ago', they write, Anthropic's automated fraud system flagged the location changes as suspicious activity; their paid subscription was put on a permanent hold and the account suspended with no human warning or manual review, their card was blacklisted, and support had not answered their emails. Realising they were locked out 'triggered a massive panic attack' and pushed them back into a severe depressive episode. Anthropic's help centre says it may ban accounts for reasons including account creation from an unsupported location and that an organisation paused for unusual activity can request a review; it does not describe the check the poster reports, and whether that check uses AI is not known. The account is uncorroborated.
If you or someone you know is struggling, free and confidential support is available. Find a helpline near you at Signpost.